Ira Mondry has been actively involved with Weizmann for more than 20
years. He now serves on the International Board of Governors of the
Institute, the Board of Directors of the American Committee, and as
Chair of the Michigan region.
Ira and his wife, Gail, are passionate about Weizmann science,
believing that it is of tremendous importance to Israel and to the
world. Over many years of involvement, Ira and Gail have been greatly
inspired by meetings with the Institute’s scientists in their labs, in
social settings, and at Weizmann events.
Before serving as Chair of the Michigan Region, Ira chaired the
region’s planned giving program. During that time, he explored the best
way he could make a gift of lasting significance to Weizmann. Ira and
Gail decided to establish a charitable lead trust.
The charitable lead trust, established in 2001, will make payments to
Weizmann for 40 years. Principal will then be distributed to a trust to
benefit their three sons and future generations at vastly reduced gift
and estate tax. According to Ira, "For me, a charitable lead trust was a
way to do good in the near term and pass assets to my heirs in an
advantageous way." Ira and Gail also hope that this trust will help to
inspire their sons’ interest in Weizmann.
In 2001, Ira succeeded his longtime friend, Norman Cohen, as Chair of
the Weizmann’s national Planned Giving program. He then made a new
pledge of support at the President’s Circle level. His parents, David
and Miriam Mondry, had established the Mondry Fund for Instrumentation.
Ira has pledged to add assets to this fund to grow it into the "Mondry
Family Professorial Chair." Ira and Gail plan to contribute as much as
possible during their lifetime, with any balance payable from their
estate.
Ira and Gail served on the National Planning Committee of the 2009
Global Gathering, "The Path to Discovery," where presentations were made
on exciting breakthroughs in cancer research; astrophysics; and a
possible vaccine to treat depression, anxiety, and memory loss.
While Ira and Gail are fascinated with all research being done at
Weizmann, Alzheimer’s research is of strong interest, because Gail’s
father died of Alzheimer’s. The presentation at the Global Gathering by
Prof. Michal Schwartz about development of a vaccine that may one day
help to slow down disease progression in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s was
cited as just one example of the potential of Weizmann’s groundbreaking
research to improve lives of people around the globe.